Analysis of Seismic Damage Patterns in Old Masonry Church Facades

2000 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 757-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siro Casolo ◽  
Siegfried Neumair ◽  
Maria A. Parisi ◽  
Vincenzo Petrini
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Vulnerability ◽  
Material Model ◽  
Seismic Damage ◽  
Elastic Behavior ◽  
Collapse Mechanism ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Observed Damage ◽  
Masonry Churches ◽  
Semi Empirical ◽  
The Church

The semi-empirical assessment of seismic vulnerability of ancient church buildings is possible only if sufficient knowledge of the expected seismic behavior is available for a wide variety of typologies. For this reason, the information inferred from seismic damage observation may need to be complemented by numerical analysis. A simplified material model is proposed here for predicting the damage from out-of-plane behavior of large walls in old masonry churches subjected to seismic loading. For a specific substructure, the church façade, the effects of geometry, strength and post-elastic behavior of the material, as well as excitation characteristics are then analyzed with reference to the formation of a collapse mechanism. Comparison with observed damage thoroughly confirms the crack patterns developed numerically. Thence, the material model proposed may be considered satisfactory and suitable for use in seismic vulnerability studies.

Seismic Vulnerability of Ancient Churches: I. Damage Assessment and Emergency Planning

2004 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Lagomarsino ◽  
Stefano Podestà
Keyword(s):  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Seismic Behavior ◽  
Seismic Vulnerability ◽  
Collapse Mechanism ◽  
Damage Level ◽  
Bell Tower ◽  
Collapse Mechanisms ◽  
Damage Grades ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Church

This paper describes a new methodology used to assess seismic damage in the churches of Umbria and the Marches, which is based on 18 indicators, each representative of a possible collapse mechanism for a macroelement. The subdivision of the church into macroelements consists of the identification of architectonic elements in which the seismic behavior is almost independent from the rest of the structure (façade, apse, dome, bell tower, etc.). For each macroelement, by considering its typology and connection to the rest of the church, it is possible to identify the damage modes and the collapse mechanisms. During inspection operations, the surveyors must indicate: (a) the actual macroelements; (b) the damage level; and (c) the vulnerability of the church to that mechanism, related to some specific details of construction. From these data a damage score is defined, which is a number from 0 to 1, obtained as a normalized mean of the damage grades in each mechanism. The analysis of the collected data (more than 1,000 churches in Umbria) allows the definition of the correlation between macroseismic intensity and damage.

scholarly journals Overturning of the façade in single-nave churches under seismic loading

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianmarco de Felice ◽  
Rebecca Fugger ◽  
Francesca Gobbin
Keyword(s):  
Element Model ◽  
Reliable Estimate ◽  
Collapse Mechanism ◽  
Seismic Action ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Detailed Assessment ◽  
Side Walls ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Masonry Churches ◽  
Actual Geometry

AbstractThe out-of-plane collapse of the façade represents one of the major threats and the most frequent cause of damages of churches due to strong earthquakes. Due to the slenderness of the façade and the lack of adequate connections to the side walls and the wooden roof, the seismic action can trigger the overturning. A detailed assessment is therefore required to judge whether or not to intervene. This paper presents an approach for the seismic assessment of the stability of the façade, through a discrete element model based on a photographic survey, with the aim of representing the actual geometry and arrangement of the stone units and their effects on the kinematics of the overturning. The collapse mechanism is simulated with both, quasi-static pushover and dynamic pulse-based analyses and the results compared to those of conventional rigid-body kinematics. The proposed approach is then applied to seven masonry churches that suffered severe damages during the 2009 L’Aquila (Italy) earthquake and the failure mode provided by the analyses is compared to the damages caused by the earthquake. The method is able to give a reliable estimate of the expected failure mechanism, taking into account the quality of the masonry and the connections to the side walls, while also providing the seismic acceleration required to trigger the motion and the ultimate displacement beyond which collapse occurs.

scholarly journals Overturning of the façade in single-nave churches under seismic loading

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianmarco de Felice ◽  
Rebecca Fugger ◽  
Francesca Gobbin
Keyword(s):  
Element Model ◽  
Reliable Estimate ◽  
Collapse Mechanism ◽  
Seismic Action ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Detailed Assessment ◽  
Side Walls ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Masonry Churches ◽  
Actual Geometry

Abstract The out-of-plane collapse of the façade represents one of the major threats and the most frequent cause of damages of churches due to strong earthquakes. Due to the slenderness of the façade and the lack of adequate connections to the side walls and the wooden roof, the seismic action can trigger the overturning. A detailed assessment is therefore required to judge whether or not to intervene. This paper presents an approach for the seismic assessment of the stability of the façade, through a discrete element model based on a photographic survey, with the aim of representing the actual geometry and arrangement of the stone units and their effects on the kinematics of the overturning. The collapse mechanism is simulated with both, quasi-static pushover and dynamic pulse-based analyses and the results compared to those of conventional rigid-body kinematics. The proposed approach is then applied to seven masonry churches that suffered severe damages during the 2009 L’Aquila (Italy) earthquake and the failure mode provided by the analyses is compared to the damages caused by the earthquake. The method is able to give a reliable estimate of the expected failure mechanism, taking into account the quality of the masonry and the connections to the side walls, while also providing the seismic acceleration required to trigger the motion and the ultimate displacement beyond which collapse occurs.

Seismic Risk Mitigation of Historical Masonry Towers by Means of Prestressing Devices

2010 ◽  
Vol 133-134 ◽  
pp. 843-848 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adolfo Preciado Quiroz ◽  
Silvio T. Sperbeck ◽  
Harald Budelmann ◽  
Gianni Bartoli ◽  
Elham Bazrafshan
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Risk ◽  
Seismic Vulnerability ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Failure Mechanisms ◽  
Masonry Towers ◽  
Seismic Risk Mitigation ◽  
Historical Masonry ◽  
Observed Damage ◽  
And Behavior

This work presents the investigation of the efficiency of different prestressing devices as a rehabilitation measure for the seismic risk mitigation of historical masonry towers. As a first phase, the seismic vulnerability of theoretical masonry towers was assessed by means of numerical models validated with information from the literature, observed damage and behavior of these structures due to passed earthquakes (crack pattern and failure mechanisms), and mainly taking into account the engineering experience. Afterwards, the validated models were rehabilitated with different prestressing devices; analyzing the results and concluding which device or the combination of them improved in a better way the seismic performance of the masonry towers. Finally, the methodology will be applied in two historical masonry towers located in seismic areas; the medieval tower “Torre Grossa” of San Gimignano, Italy, and one of the bell towers of the Cathedral of Colima, Mexico.

Seismic Vulnerability of Existing RC Buildings and Influence of the Decoupling of the Effective Masonry Panels from the Structural Frames

2012 ◽  
Vol 268-270 ◽  
pp. 646-655
Author(s):  
Fabio de Angelis ◽  
Donato Cancellara
Keyword(s):  
Reinforced Concrete ◽  
Seismic Vulnerability ◽  
Seismic Analysis ◽  
Effective Interaction ◽  
Collapse Mechanism ◽  
Limit States ◽  
Capacity Curves ◽  
Masonry Infills ◽  
N2 Method ◽  
Structural Frame

In the present work we discuss on the seismic vulnerability of reinforced concrete existing buildings. In particular we consider a reinforced concrete building originally designed for only gravitational loads and located in a zone recently defined at seismic risk. According to the Italian seismic code NTC 2008 a displacement based approach is adopted and the N2-method is considered for the nonlinear seismic analysis. In the analysis all the masonry infill panels in effective interaction with the structural frame are considered for the nonlinear modeling of the structure. The influence of the effective masonry infills on the seismic response of the structure is analyzed and it is discussed how the effect of the masonry infills irregularly located within the building can give rise to a worsening of the seismic performance of the structure. It is shown that in the present case a not uniform positioning of the masonry infills within the building can give rise to a fragile structural behavior in the collapse mechanism. Furthermore a comparative analysis is performed by considering both the structure with the effective masonry infills and the bare structural frame. For these two structures a pushover analysis is performed, the relative capacity curves are derived and it is shown that fragile collapse mechanisms can occur depending on the irregular positioning of the effective masonry infills. Accordingly it is discussed how in the present case a decoupling of the effective masonry infills from the structural frame can give rise to a smoother response of the capacity curves. For the examined case of an obsolete building with irregular positioning of the masonry panels, the choice of decoupling the effective masonry panels from the structural frame may facilitate the retrofitting strategies for the achievement of the proper safety factors at the examined limit states.

Assessment of 3D Linear Elastic Masonry-Like Vaulted Structures

2019 ◽  
Vol 817 ◽  
pp. 50-56
Author(s):  
Deborah Briccola ◽  
Matteo Bruggi ◽  
Alberto Taliercio
Keyword(s):  
Material Model ◽  
Equivalent Material ◽  
Technical Literature ◽  
Linear Elastic ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Minimization Procedure ◽  
Live Loads ◽  
Historical Masonry ◽  
No Tension Material

A novel approach is adopted to assess the static behavior of vaulted structures, such as cantilevered masonry stairs, assuming a linear elastic no-tension material model. Masonry is substituted by an equivalent orthotropic material whose elastic properties vary locally and with a negligible stiffness where tensile strain occurs. In order to recover a tension-free state of stress, an energy-based minimization procedure is carried out to establish the distribution and the orientation of the equivalent material for a given compatible load. The capability of the approach in defining purely compressive stress solutions in masonry walls under dead load and both in-plane and out-of-plane live loads has already been assessed. A meaningful application to a cantilevered masonry stair is here presented; the results are in good agreement with those available in the technical literature on historical masonry constructions.

Reducing Seismic out of Plane Vulnerability of Masonry Church Façades through Optimization of Capacity Spectrum by Tie Rods

2019 ◽  
Vol 817 ◽  
pp. 325-333
Author(s):  
Simonetta Baraccani ◽  
Giorgio Dan ◽  
Angelo Di Tommaso ◽  
Tomaso Trombetti
Keyword(s):  
Masonry Walls ◽  
Collapse Mechanisms ◽  
Capacity Spectrum ◽  
Construction Techniques ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Recent Earthquakes ◽  
Discrete Element Methods ◽  
Tie Rods ◽  
The Church

The analyses of the structural damages detected on the Italian churches after the recent earthquakes (Emilia 2012, Umbria-Marche 2016) highlighted the high vulnerability to the overturning of the façades. The façades collapse mechanisms are strongly dependent on the connection details between orthogonal masonry walls, the windows, the construction techniques and the possible restraining horizontal elements, such as tie-beams, bi-lateral connected roof, etc. Several studies focus on the evaluation of vulnerability of the church façades using different approaches, from global analyses (FEM and /or Discrete Element Methods) of the entire building, to local analyses (linear and non-linear kinematic approaches). The aims of the present paper is to use the method based on capacity spectra to evaluate the vulnerability of the church facades and the optimization of specific devices as tie-rods to improve their seismic behavior. The non-linear approach is now accepted by several standards regarding the evaluation of risks of collapse mechanisms for masonry walls of the facades. Appropriate devices have been considered in order to calibrate the capacity curve and to optimize the interventions. The out of plane rotation of blocks can be modified with various elasto-perfect-plastic tendons with appropriate retentions (while composite materials could be used to preserve integrity of blocks). The tendons can be allocated in proper location and the length of each calibrated to best determine their stiffness. This procedure have been here applied to the study of the façade of Aula Magna S. Lucia of the Bologna University, considering also the problem of the interaction with the structure of the roof.

scholarly journals Numerical–Experimental Correlation of Impact-Induced Damages in CFRP Laminates

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 2372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Sellitto ◽  
Salvatore Saputo ◽  
Francesco Di Caprio ◽  
Aniello Riccio ◽  
Angela Russo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Model ◽  
Composite Laminates ◽  
Transverse Direction ◽  
Material Model ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Cfrp Laminates ◽  
Experimental Correlation ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Impact Phenomena ◽  
The Impact

Composite laminates are characterized by high mechanical in-plane properties and poor out-of-plane characteristics. This issue becomes even more relevant when dealing with impact phenomena occurring in the transverse direction. In aeronautics, Low Velocity Impacts (LVIs) may occur during the service life of the aircraft. LVI may produce damage inside the laminate, which are not easily detectable and can seriously degrade the mechanical properties of the structure. In this paper, a numerical-experimental investigation is carried out, in order to study the mechanical behavior of rectangular laminated specimens subjected to low velocity impacts. The numerical model that best represents the impact phenomenon has been chosen by numerical–analytical investigations. A user defined material model (VUMAT) has been developed in Abaqus/Explicit environment to simulate the composite intra-laminar damage behavior in solid elements. The analyses results were compared to experimental test data on a laminated specimen, performed according to ASTM D7136 standard, in order to verify the robustness of the adopted numerical model and the influence of modeling parameters on the accuracy of numerical results.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document